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The CPU meter

The CPU meter, at the top left of the screen, shows how much of your computer's processing ability is currently being used. The meter updates every few seconds (depending on your settings), so you won't see it react immediately to changes in your system.

The free memory graph

The free memory graph illustrates how much memory, in percent, has been free on your computer over time. The far-right portion of the graph is the most recent. You can use the sliders to the right, entitled "Desired" and "Minimum allowable," to adjust how MemoryBoost manages your memory. MemoryBoost tries to maintain the desired amount of memory, represented by the green line on the graph. But sometimes, as shown in the picture, it will allow free memory to drop below the desired amount as long as it does not affect your computer's performance. The minimum allowable amount is much more serious. When memory drops below this amount, MemoryBoost will immediately spring into action to boost memory above this amount.

It is important to set your desired and minimum free memory levels wisely. If you set them too high, MemoryBoost will often work to improve your memory which is not really necessary. If they are set too low, your computer may run out of memory before MemoryBoost has a chance to work. Fortunately, you have a lot of discretion in setting these values, and MemoryBoost restricts you from setting values that will hurt your computer's performance. Generally speaking, you can select any value that MemoryBoost will allow. We recommend setting your desired free memory to around 40% and your minimum to around 15%. These values and similar ones have been empirically discovered to produce best performance.

Working options

These options let you set how often MemoryBoost will try to regain more memory, and under what circumstances. First, the "Probe frequency" allows you to set how often MemoryBoost checks your memory and updates its statistics (and the CPU meter). You can change this value to anything you want in seconds. We recommend 5 seconds; you can set it as low as 1 and as high as you like. If the value is very high, MemoryBoost will not check your memory very often and may let your memory slip below desired or minimum levels. You should therefore probably not set this value to anything greater than 10 seconds.

By checking the "Smart CPU use" button, you ensure that MemoryBoost will not try to reclaim memory when you are working at your computer. When MemoryBoost is running, you may observe a slight slowdown in your computer. This is why MemoryBoost tries to work only when you are away from your computer, when it doesn't really matter if the system slows down a little. Checking the smart CPU button enables this feature; MemoryBoost will check to make sure your machine is not in use before it starts to work.

MemoryBoost checks by seeing how much of your CPU is in use. If you're away from your computer, probably not very much is in use. MemoryBoost will work when the CPU level is below the cutoff level, which you can specify. The default is 10%. Setting a high CPU cutoff lets MemoryBoost work even when your computer is working. Low means that your computer really has to be silent before MemoryBoost will work. We recommend settings between 10 and 20 percent.

Because your CPU fluctuates constantly (when you start a program, it may be high for a second but then low again), MemoryBoost watches your CPU over a period of time to make sure you're really not using your computer (not just that you've stopped for a second). The "wait time" setting instructs MemoryBoost to watch your CPU for a certain time before acting. If the CPU is below the CPU cutoff for the entire wait time, then MemoryBoost will act. You can set this value to whatever you want, in seconds. By default it is set at 120 seconds (2 minutes).

QuickBoost

The QuickBoost button lets you run QuickBoost from within the Manager. QuickBoost will allow you to immediately reclaim some memory. For more information on QuickBoost, please visit the QuickBoost help section. When you click on the QuickBoost button, you'll see the QuickBoost window appear.